Beachcomber

The controversy over the plannedcell phone tower on the roof of theWest End Temple in Neponsit onceagain illuminates the propositionthat neighborhood ties are fragile,even for religious institutions. Thedecision to sign the contract withT-Mobile for a cell phone towerthat would earn the cash-strappedtemple more than $2,800 a monthin much-needed revenue thatcould be used for programs was a"no-brainer," according to templeleaders. And, it appears on the surfacethat, in terms of the money, itwas a good decision. There areother forces at play, however.There are many who believe thatcell towers give off harmful radiationthat may cause cancer. Someof the people who believe that livenear the temple and they began acampaign to get rid of the towereven before it was in place. Who isright? Are the towers dangerous?Even the experts say that the technologyis changing so fast that itwill be years, perhaps decades, beforethat question can be answeredwith any clarity. Given that contention,opponents say, it is betterto err on the side of caution, andthey are probably right.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is desperate to get his congestion pricing plan approved. Proof of that is his approval of local parking permits that would prevent people from outside the zone from parking in already-impacted neighborhoods right at the border of the mayor's planned impact zone. For as long as we can remember, Bloomberg has said no to such plans in places such as Rockaway, where summer parking is problematic and draconian parking rules exist on summer weekends. Bloomberg says that he believes that the Manhattan residents would be willing to pay $10 to insure that they had reserved spaces on their neighborhood streets. Why not a similar program for Rockaway? Take away the No Parking Saturday and Sunday signs and let residents pay for reserved parking. It would be worth more than $10 to be allowed to park in front of your own home on summer weekends. Speaking of the mayor's plan, he needs the votes of several City Council members, who are reportedly balking about voting for it because their constituents are so opposed. As you would expect, those who ride the buses and subways regularly are in favor of the plan, because it promises improved mass transit spending. Those who must drive into Manhattan from the other boroughs for work, doctors appointments or cultural events are opposed to the plan, recent polls show. With many council members reaching their term limits and looking to run for some other office, those members do not want to anger constituents whose vote they might need for those new offices.

The Taft Institute at Queens Collegeis offering all city public schoolteachers three free graduate creditsin civic education. The programbegins with three day-long sessionin August and continues with eightevening sessions during the fallsemester. Refreshments, books andother materials are provided freeto participants. Those interestedshould contact Professor JackZevin at the school, 718-997-5546.

Three Far Rockaway High School students have be selected to move to the second stage of the Broad Prize scholarship selection process. The selection is based on improvement over the high school years. The three moving on in the process are Cherise Bartow, Kerissa Patrick and Nadine Pierre.

Jose Merced, the principal of thenew School of Medical Technologythat will begin at the Far RockawayEducational Campus in Septembercalled to say that theschool will host an open house atthe former Far Rockaway HighSchool on Bay 25 Street from noonto 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 29.Merced, who was formerly theassistant principal in charge ofScience at John Dewey High Schooland is a medical technologist aswell, says that the school will be acollege prep program for kidsinterested in the medical field. "Wewant to bring back the Far Rockawaykids who are leaving the peninsulato go to high schools elsewhere,"he said.

This year's annual Rotary Sweet 'N Low Ocean Run will be dedicated to the memory of Rockaway activist Barbara Eisenstadt, who passed away last year. The run will reportedly move back to its former venue at Beach 116 Street and the boardwalk after one year at Riis Park.

On the "Talk About Chutzpah" front, the lawyer who is suing six Atlantic City casinos as well as one in Las Vegas for allowing her to lose nearly $1 million dollars at their facilities, was one of the major lawyers involved in arguing the cases of those from Washington Heights who died in the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 in Rockaway in November of 2001. "It's like crack, only gambling is worse than crack, because it's mental," said Arelia Margarita Taveras. "It creeps up on you. It's a sickness." She claims that the casino owners should have stopped her when she spent days on end sitting at the gambling machines and table. She says they had a duty to notice her compulsive gambling practices and cut her off.

Anew book on Chinese restaurantsin the United States, "The FortuneCookie Chronicles," by JenniferLee has a section on success stories.Lee, who wrote for the New YorkTimes, tells stories of Chineseimmigrants in the Chinese restaurantbusiness. Among them is ayoung man from Fuzhou, China,who spent four years in a federalprison after jumping off the GoldenVenture, a ship smuggling illegalChinese aliens into the UnitedStates that beached itself on aBreezy Point beach in June of 1993.In 2006, the immigrant owned a150-seat restaurant in Ohio andwas building a five-bedroom homefor his wife and two children.